TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2020

Two more children died this week in gun accidents that might have been prevented by safe storage laws. Also today, a popular former North Carolina law enforcement officer died while working in Hawaii when a rifle accidentally fired inside a police station.

In Memphis, Tennessee, a 14-year old girl died when a boy was handing her a gun. Although the boy’s mother was aware that her son had bought a gun and repeatedly took it away from him, she did not remove it from the home or lock it up. The boy had recovered the gun from where his mother had hidden it when the accident occurred. The boy’s mother has been charged with reckless homicide, apparently for failing to prevent the accident.

In Atlanta, Georgia, a 3-year old boy found a gun in his home and shot himself. There is an ongoing investigation. The girl’s mother and her boyfriend are cooperating.

Special Agent John Bost III, was killed by a rifle shot in Ki’hei, Hawaii while working inside a police station. Investigators have not said what caused the rifle to go off, other than that the incident was an accident. Bost had formerly been a law enforcement officer in Charlotte, North Carolina where he remained popular. A large parade was held in his honor in his hometown of Huntersville.

Sources:

Eryn Taylor, Melissa Moon, “Mother Charged after Juvenile Girl Shot, Killed in Southwest Memphis,” News 3 WREG (July 29, 2020).

Asia Simone Burns, “3-year-old Boy Dies after Shooting Himself in SW Atlanta,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (July 28, 2020).

“Huntersville Community Honors Former CMPD Officer Killed in Hawaii,” wsotv.com (August 6, 2020).

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SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2020

There were two gun accidents involving AR-15 style rifles today, each illustrating a combat-designed purpose of the weapon.

In the first incident, a Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania man was sleeping in a chair in a wooded area by a pond when he was accidentally shot with a small caliber round fired by one of two men from across the pond. According to the victim, he saw that the men were shooting an AR-15 style weapon before they left the scene. When he was discovered the next morning, the victim was taken to the hospital for medical care.

In the second incident, a St. Mathews, Kentucky man was struck by a round in his apartment complex. According to police, another man who lives in the complex “was inside his apartment while he was handling the loaded ‘AR-15 style’ rifle. While doing so, police say he fired the weapon into the headboard of his bed.” The round “”traveled through the headboard, the bedroom wall, into the adjoining closet, through the closet doors’ and hit a man who was in another room in the apartment in the head.” The police believe that the victim’s injuries could be life-threatening due to the force of the impact.

AR-15 style rifles rounds are designed to strike military targets as much as half a mile from the shooter, distances so great that the person who fires the weapon may have no idea what, if anything, is struck. In addition, because of the muzzle speed which with they are fired, rounds from an AR-15 can penetrate structures and walls. Put simply, they are not safe for self-defense in the home or for any other legitimate civilian purpose. Where they have been banned, those bans have been upheld as consistent with the Second Amendment.

Sources:

Incident No. PA 20-971719 “Pennsylvania State Police Public Information Release Report,” (July 12, 2020).

“St. Matthews Police Arrest Suspect After Man Shot in the Head at Jamestown Apartments,” WDRB.com (July 13, 2020).

Shattered – The Gun Accident Journal

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